2015 MLB Predictions

Hey look at that. The Colonel and I are back to give you our 2015 MLB predictions. Looking back at our 2014 predictions I can say...........well at least we correctly predicted what managers will  get fired. As always these are semi-serious predictions. Also we plan on doing some more Talkin' Baseball's in the future starting sometime between now and Monday of opening day as our first one.

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Don Mattingly will get fired: I've been predicting his firing for 3 years now. It has to come true eventually right? Probably not because this team is so talented it really doesn't matter who the manager is.

The AL East will be perfectly mediocre: ZIPS is projecting that none of the teams in this division win 90 games with the divisional winner having only 87 wins. I disagree with the projection system saying the Red Sox win the division but I do agree with the projections that this will be a perfectly mediocre division with no great teams but no bad teams.

The Chicago White Sox will be the surprise team of the AL Central:  Sports Illustrated picked Cleveland to win the world series. I'm picking the White Sox to be the surprise team of the season and Cleveland not even making the playoffs. Chicago improved the rotation with Jeff Smardjajaja and improved their lineup with Melky Cabrera. Plus factor in Jose Abreu and Chris Sale and you're looking at a sneaky good team.

The Oakland A's won't make the playoffs: They barely made the playoffs last season and that was before they sold everyone. Now the A's did make some smart moves in acquiring Zobrist and Billy Butler but I'm just not a fan of the roster as a whole. The A's are still relying on Coco Crisp who cannot stay healthy. They're hoping Ike Davis will settle at first nevermind the fact he's been a disappointment everywhere he's gone. The rotation is hoping a bunch of guys come back from injuries. The bullpen looks good again but I'm just not feeling the rest of that roster.

The Marlins will still be mediocre: ZIPS is projecting a perfectly mediocre 81-81 record for the fish. And that sounds about right.

The Reds will trade one of their key players: The Reds were bad this year and their main core of players aren't getting younger. I think this is the year they finally bite the bullet and trade one of their key players, either Jay Bruce or Brandon Phillips. Joey Votto's contract is too expensive to trade so he's not going anywhere.

The Giants will hit the least amount of home runs: The Giants last year were in the middle of the pack in home runs. That was before they lost Sandoval and Mike Morse and replaced them with guys who combined to hit 5 home runs last season. The Giants better pray they can knock balls into the gaps because they ain't hitting a lot of homers this year.

The Padres won't have the pitching: The Padres finally shat and got off the pot and improved their team through trades. That should be one of the best outfields in the game this year. One problem I have with them though is their starting pitching. Yes they improved it with James Shields but he ain't exactly a staff ace. The rest of that rotation ranges from good to who? There's a reason why they'll be linked to a Cole Hamels trade all season.

The Mariners will make a panic trade that hurts their franchise: The Mariners are projected to be the division winner in the AL West. They still have holes though at first base and most of the outfield. I could easily see them trading one of their stud prospects in a panic that hurts their franchise in the long run.

The Colonel
Brad Ausmus or Mike Matheny will get fired: Either the Tigers or Cardinals are set up for a disappointing season (most likely Detroit). I could see the fan bases and front office of either of these teams being disappointed and firing either one of these managers. (Note: This might be the first time in 10 year I have no idea which manager will get fired. My darkhorse to be fired though is Joe Girardi.)

The MLBPA will complain about Kris Bryant not making the major league roster and still won't do anything about it: This has been a storyline all spring training and you know what, the players union won't do a damn thing about it. They like to holler and raise their voice (mostly Tony Clark) but I doubt the players really give a crap if Kris Bryant makes the big league roster immediately or not because of arbitration time.

The Blue Jays will once again win between 78-84 games: The Blue Jays appear to be stuck in a rut. Yeah they keep improving the team with trades and signings but they still look stuck in place. A big part of this is injuries and the health gods have already taken Marcus Stroman from us. They'll once again win between 78 and 84 games.

Bruce Rodon will win the AL Rookie of the Year: Keep Rodon's name in the back of your mind. He's the left handed stud who should have been the first pick and instead fell to the White Sox at 3. He might not make the club on opening day but he'll eventually make the big leagues and win rookie of the year.

The Astros will make the playoffs: I look at the AL West and go "belch". I'm sorry I just don't like the A's or Mariners. Rangers are already falling apart. The Angels rotation is getting older. So the Astros are my surprise team and I don't even feel good about that.

The Nationals will once again fall short in the NLDS: It's going to be hilarious when the Nats are losing in the NLDS again this time to the Dodgers or Pirates.

The Cardinals finally don't make the playoffs: Okay I'm just wishing this and not actually predicting it.

The Giants will be lucky if they win 80 games: The Giants have just flat out sucked in spring training and I don't see this as a coincidence. They don't have power, they're counting on guys like Hudson, Vogelsong, Lincecum, and Peavy in the rotation. They look like they're going to be a disaster.

OMG JOE MADDON!: Old goofy Joe has joined the Cubs and my God I'm not looking forward to the fawning over this guy with the Cubs. OMG JOE MADDON IS SUCH A GENIUS, HE CUT HIS HAIR INTO MOHAWK TO MOTIVATE HIS TEAM! WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT? OMG? OMG?

ESPN's Early Sunday Night Baseball Schedule

Ah it's the time of the year. Football is starting to go away. You're paying more attention to college basketball. The NBA is in the doldrums of their season. And baseball is right around the corner. Okay fine, baseball is still 3 months away preceded by never ending spring training games. And it's still really freaking cold for most of you east of the Rockies. But still baseball is coming, you just haven't realized it yet.

ESPN has realized it and have released the schedule for their early part of the Sunday Night Baseball schedule. And predictably there are a bunch of Yankee/Red Sox games:

April 5th: St. Louis at Chicago
April 12th: Boston at New York
April 19th: Cincinnati at St. Louis
April 26th: Mets at Yankees
May 3rd: New York at Boston

A few thoughts:

- The Cardinals are the Yankees of the National League and the Midwest. I'm fully prepared for at least 8 appearances by them this season on Sunday Night Baseball.

- I do enjoy the fact that no matter how bad the Yankees are, ESPN (Fox, MLB Network, TBS are just as guilty) will still shoehorn their games onto the network.

- Prepare for a lot of Cubs games this year. They did way too much in the offseason and have way too many expectations not be seen on the Mothership at least 4 to 5 times this year.

- To be honest, I'm more offended at this point with the MLB Network shoving Yankee games down my throat than ESPN. You're a network covering a single league. There are more teams than just the Yankees. And yet I'll guarantee you there will be more than 20 Yankee games aired on the MLB Network with at least 9 of them being their showcase Thursday night game. This offends me more than whatever Fox or ESPN does.

- And if I'm being really honest, I hardly watch the Sunday night games anymore, especially in the spring time when programming like Game of Thrones and Mad Men are also on. Add to the fact that John Kruk and Curt Schilling at the analysts, and I just don't watch these games anymore.

So yes kiddos the baseball season is right around the corner. Be excited!

Now This Is How Fast a MLB Game Should Last

Last night I was browsing through some old MLB videos and came across this old game of Tom Seaver's only no-hitter thrown in 1978 while a member of the Cincinnati Reds. The first thing I noticed about this game was that it lasted only an hour and 48 minutes. That's incredible even for a no-hitter. Has there been a game this season that has lasted under two hours? Either way enjoy this old game.



Other Observations:

- Another reason why this game was so quick was because the batters never left the batters box. I hate to sound like old baseball person but why can't batters be like these guys? They stand in the box and wait for the next pitch. No leaving the box to readjust their batting gloves or to take a practice swing. Why can't things be the way they used to be?

- Seaver's delivery and pretty much all pitchers delivery's in those days looks like it was a very easy delivering of the pitch to the plate. Seaver and guys like Jim Palmer pitched forever back in those days and it makes me wonder if we see less elbow surgery's if guys had easy deliveries like his?

- I'm not the biggest Marty Brennaman fan but he was really good for this game. It dawned on me that announcers like players have primes. Marty is past his prime and is in "get off my lawn" mode today. In the 70's I understand why he eventually became a hall of famer.

I Guess Cubs Games are Boring

The Cubs actually won last night but it wasn't exactly exciting. A 2-1 victory that lasted over 3 hours and didn't end until a walkoff by Nate Schierholtz. So can you really blame the out of town scoreboard operator for falling asleep?

Poor guy. The Cubs are so boring they're putting him to sleep. Hopefully the Ricketts family doesn't fire him for falling asleep on the job.

(Via @bubbaprog)

All Edwin Encarnacion Does Is Hit Home Runs

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion is on fire in the month of May. He's had four different two home run games including one last night against the Boston Red Sox.



Encarnacion has been the most underrated hitter in the game. He hits for power. Gets on base. And strikes out very little. That's a rare trait in power hitters in today's baseball.

The Blue Jays as a whole have kinda snuck out of nowhere and judging by how mediocre the AL East is this season they could definitely make the playoffs. They're the only team in that division with a positive run differential. They have a great 1-2 punch with Bautista and Encarnacion, Melky Cabrera is playing better, Adam Lind is a BABIP machine, and Anthony Gose is showing some promise that made him a highly thought of prospect.

The one area that the Blue Jays do have a concern is still at starting pitcher. Yes Mark Buehrle has turned back the clock and Drew Hutchinson is pitching well, but it's still hard to take that starting staff seriously. They as a group don't walk many batters but almost all of them over rely on their defense leading to their high xFIP's. You have to wonder how long that's going to last? Or will it matter at all because of how mediocre the AL East has looked so far this year?

Scaredy Cat

The Derek Jeter retirement tour rolled into Chicago Monday night and on Tuesday night a lightning strike let Jeter know that God is telling him it's time to retire.



What a scaredy cat. Afraid of a little lightning.

/I would have ran for cover immediately

Let's See How Fast This Committee Works

Well here we go.

MLB is preparing to announce later today creation of new committee to find successor to retiring Bud Selig. More coming in SBD Morning Buzz
— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBJ) May 15, 2014

Selig has been adamant about keeping succession process quiet as possible, but owners have been wanting more structure to effort
— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBJ) May 15, 2014

I don't really care how a new commissioner in baseball is found I just want him or her to be between the ages of 35-55. Reports that Joe Torre could be the commissioner scare the shit out of me so hopefully this committee finds someone who is a little younger.

Another thing I hope for is that this committee works a little quicker than the committee currently trying to determine whether the A's can move to San Jose or not. That committee was founded what? 5 years ago? So yeah let's hope this committee works a little quicker and they find someone youngish.

(Via Hardball Talk)

Gritty Manager Shows Everyone How To Handle a Hit & Run

Matt Williams was one my favorite players growing up as a kid. I was devastated when Sabean, first year on the job, traded him to Cleveland for Jeff Kent (which actually did work out for the Giants). So it hurts me when Williams receives flak for his handling of the Washington Nationals as their manager.

Williams came from Arizona for this job which means he came from grit. Kirk Gibson's grit. And he's already opened up himself for mockery by demanding Bryce Harper "hustle" despite the kid breaking his face hustling for a ball in the outfield or breaking a finger hustling for a triple.

Williams the other day though demonstrated grit when you're involved with a hit and run. And I'm not talking about that type of hit and run.



I love how he finished the interview discussing whether or not Anthony Rendon should replace Denard Span at the top of the lineup. NOW THAT IS GRIT FOLKS. Maybe those pansy Nationals would be a lot tougher if they handled a hit and run like that!

(Via The Big Lead)

Jose Fernandez is Amazing

Jose Fernandez is amazing. Don't ask me, ask the million other writers who have said the same thing. Well if Hernandez isn't amazing at pitching or amazing at hitting, he's being amazing with his glove.



I like to have seen Greg Maddux try to pull that off.

Pineda Pulls a Eddie Harris

Look baseball is a game of cheaters. I came to this conclusion while Bonds was chasing Hank Aaron's home run record. And if batters aren't juicing then they're definitely trying to cork their bats. If batters weren't juicing, then pitchers were trying to do something with the ball. Go back even further when the Giants used to add extra water around first base to keep Maury Willis from stealing 2nd. The game is full of cheaters.

That being said, it can't be this blatant obvious just a week after people were questioning the substance that was on the side of your hand.



My favorite part is the home plate umpire literally touching Pineda's neck where the pine tar was. And yes that was pine tar because Pineda admitted to it.

Look most people don't care about cheating in baseball. Even the Red Sox players admitted they didn't care if Pineda was using pine tar. Here's the deal though, you can't be Eddie Harris on the mound and pretend the other team won't notice and complain. Hell I would raise an objection if it was that blatant and I can't complain about the Red Sox bringing up that issue.

Next time Michael, read up on former Yankee Whitey Ford, and scuff the ball with a wedding ring.

"I Wasn't Talking About the Hot Dog"

The Diamondbacks are selling a 18-inch hot dog that costs $25 dollars. It's what all the opposing broadcasters are talking about now during Diamondbacks games since they're so bad. The Giants broadcasters were talking about it and the Mets broadcasters were talking about it last night.



"I wasn't talking about the hot dog."- Keith Hernandez

And this is why the Mets have one of the best broadcast teams in baseball.

Instant Replay Outrage

The initial outlook at instant replay in baseball hasn't been good. Between not being able to review every play, to running out of challenges, to the actual replay booth not having the same cameras as the TV networks to review plays, it hasn't been good.

Last night though I believe the reviewers flat got a call wrong. The play in question was whether or not JP Arrencibia controlled the ball while making a tag at home plate. I believe he still had control while making the tag and then lost control when making the exchange from his glove to his hand to make the throw to first. The reviewers didn't see it that way and changed their call. Ron Washington is with me on this argument.



I'll say this about the reviewers, that's one of those calls where no one would have been happy no matter how it was called. But to throw out Washington without explaining why the call is overturned just seems ludicrous to me.

40 Years Later

40 years ago today Henry Aaron passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list with this bomb against the Los Angeles Dodgers.



What I find amazing about Aaron is that he was never the greatest OBP player (his best season he was 37 years old amazingly) never had the greatest OPS numbers, never had the greatest slugging % numbers, but is third most in grounded into double plays (Cal Ripken Jr is first).

What I'm trying to say is, what do we make of Hank Aaron's career? He was consistently consistent at hitting home runs (a bunch of seasons with 40 or 30 home runs) and he's still the all-time leader in RBI's. Was he dominate player or someone who stayed healthy and cracked out home runs year after year? That's for someone else to decide but on the day he passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list I'll celebrate that accomplishment.

MLB Predictions

The Colonel and I like to make predictions. Why? Because they're goofy and fun to look at once the season ends and see how bad or good those predictions were. As always these predictions are what we think will happen this season and not who wins what division or award. Save those predictions for the old codgers who cover baseball for major publications. Without further ado, here's our terrible 2014 MLB predictions.

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Yasiel Puig gets Don Mattingly Fired: Mattingly is already grumbling over Puig's baserunning mistakes and "injuries". This isn't going to end well for Mattingly. They're owned by a person who got a coach fired. You think Magic is going to side with Mattingly over Puig if these grumblings continue into the season? I'd say a whiff of a bad start and Mattingly is gone.

Ron Washington Will Also Get Fired This Season: Between his feet in the sand comments on sabermetrics and questionable decisions during games, Washington always seems like he's on the cusp of getting canned. I think this is the year he finally gets canned. With the Angels getting healthier, the Mariners improving, the A's staying good the AL West is only getting tougher. Slow start and he's gone.

Jacoby Ellsbury Will Be The Most Despised Yankee Since Carl Pavano: Yankee fans hated Pavano because of his injury problems and other issues. Ellsbury I believe will replace Pavano as the next most despised Yankee. Between being an ex-Red Sox, to his own injury problems (he's already had to take time off for an injury), and the contract he signed this is going to be a disaster for Ellsbury. He might as well a "He Hate Me" jersey to games.

How To Properly Run a Athlete/Coach Out of Town

A player or a coach's end is almost always painful, especially when they've been with a team for a long time and have been successful. How can they not be painful especially in the athlete's case? The end of the line on a career they've been working at for 20-25 years. That has to be painful. I couldn't imagine having to stop my career when I'm between the ages of 25-42. What do you do the rest of your life?

What makes ends so painful in sports is almost all of them end ugly. You see it almost every year with athletes who are at the end of their line with a team. Hurt feelings and bruised egos are almost always the norm instead of the happy retirement like you saw with Mariano Rivera.

Look at the end of the line with Jimmy Rollins and the Philadelphia Phillies. They're going to run him out of town because he doesn't "hustle". He's being badmouthed by his manager and Larry Bowa because I'm sure both Bowa and Sandberg busted their ass down the line on every hit. Leave it up to the Phillies at being incompetent at running a player out of town the proper way.

If the Phillies really wanted to run Rollins out of town the right way, they need some tips. Consider this the proper way to run an athlete/coach out of town.

Float rumors to the press that they have a drug problem: Remember when Terry Francona left the Red Sox? Remember how ugly that was? The Red Sox floated rumors to the Boston Globe that Francona's managing abilities were affected by prescription drug abuse. Seriously this actually happened. Now that's how you run someone out of town, Phillies. Float a rumor to the press that Rollins has a drug problem and that he would be better off on a different team.

Float rumors that a divorce is affecting Rollins: Is Rollins married or have kids? It doesn't matter. Float rumors that he's going through a nasty divorce and custody settlement as justification for jettisoning a player.

Simply cut him and then lock the doors: The White Sox basically did this to Carlton Fisk. Simply just cut Rollins, lock the doors, and pretend he never existed, Philly.

Float rumors that he's a terrible clubhouse presence: Basically what the Phillies are doing now but they're hiding behind the "hustle" argument. Claim that he gambles massive amounts of money in the clubhouse and that you don't want your younger players influenced by that. That's more believable and less infuriating than he doesn't "hustle".

Float rumors that he hates 'Rocky': Really want to anger the fanbase, claim Rollins hates 'Rocky'.

Whatever happens or however the Phillies run Rollins out of town it's going to be ugly, painful, and bitter. Endings almost always are and this case is no different.

Baseball Players and Freak Injuries

Baseball players and freak injuries go together like peanut butter and jelly. And they only happen to baseball players. You never hear stories about how Tom Brady sprained his thumb using a recliner like Mike Remlinger back in the day. No basketball player is dumb enough to iron a shirt he's wearing and burn himself like John Smoltz.

Bizarre injuries just happen to baseball players for some reason. And they've struck this year already. Francisco Rodriguez had to miss a game for the Brewers because he stepped on a cactus. Yes he stepped on a cactus.

Francisco Rodriguez stepped on a cactus yesterday. First freak incident of camp. Status for tomorrow's game unknown right now. #Brewers
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) March 12, 2014

And Josh Beckett of the Dodgers has now injured his thumb on the clubhouse doors. From Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times:

"Beckett said his thumb was caught in a set of doors leading into the clubhouse about 10 days ago."

Are you fucking kidding me? Only this shit happens to baseball players and it happens all the time. Baseball players seriously need to be wrapped in bubble wrap at all times when they're not on the diamond.

The Twins and Strikeouts

Last year's Minnesota Twins stunk. The year before that the Twins stunk. Last year's team was especially appalling though when you look at their pitching staff and strikeouts. Get this the Twins had co-leaders with strikeouts at only 101 strikeouts. Yes the Twins only had two pitchers who got over 100 strikeouts for the season and their closer was third on the team with 77.

That's mind boggling to think about that a team only had two starting pitchers who struck out 100 batters and the pitcher on their staff that is third is their closer. No wonder they finished 30 games under .500. So how do the Twins solve this problem? By going after guys in free agency.

The two pitchers the Twins signed to over $70 million were Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco. (Cue up the Price is Right losing horn.) Nolasco is the real prize between the two. Nolasco has thrown over 100 strikeouts the past 6 seasons including 165 last year between the Marlins and Dodgers. He's projected to give them over 100 strikeouts this season.

The deal I can't figure out for the Twins is Hughes. Last season Hughes declined from his 2012 season only whiffing 121 batters with a 4.50 FIP. How exactly does he bolster their pitching rotation? He barely had a better season than Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey who each barely gave the Twins nothing.

Hughes gives Twins fans that false hope. Minnesota signing him says to the fans, "see we spend money in the offseason" but there's small print that says "but not for players that are all that great".

The Twins still look like a team that will have pitching problems again for the 2014 season. Yes they improved the very top of their pitching staff with Nolasco but he's not exactly Justin Verlander or even Doug Fister. And the rest of their pitching staff is pretty meh.

The Twins will have Samuel Deduno and the immortal Vance Worley throwing rocks at each other for the fifth starting spot. Not exactly inspiring.

It's hard looking at the "new & improved" pitching staff for the Twins and not seeing another poor season coming from that staff. Nolasco makes them better at top. Hughes gives them depth. That doesn't mean though this will be one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Then again the Twins aren't exactly ready yet to compete. Not until Buxton and Sano come up until the Twins can compete. For now though this should hold them over until the super prospects come up.

The Orioles and OBP

The Colonel and I are going to try to preview teams, players, whatever in essay form until the season starts. I bet this only lasts for a couple of posts. Today the Colonel with an essay on the Baltimore Orioles.

I find the Baltimore Orioles fascinating. Now you ask yourself, yeah they're interesting they have finished with a winning record the past two seasons and have made one trip to the playoffs what's your point? My point is the Orioles have achieved those winning records despite their allergic reaction to getting on base.

The Orioles are horrible at getting on base but are great at scoring runs. That doesn't seem possible. Don't you need to get on base to score runs? Not the Baltimore Orioles. Check out this graph. (This is their projected lineup via Yahoo)(Data via Fangraphs)

Name	OBP	AVG	HR	Runs
Davis	.362	.286	53	138
Wieters	.287		22	59
Cruz	.327	.266	27	49
Machado	.314	.283	14	88
Hardy	.306	.263	25	66
Schoop	.333	.286	1	5
Jones	.318	.286	33	100
Markakis	.329	.271	10	89
Reimold	.250	.195	5	17

See why the Orioles are fascinating? Despite having one player who has an above average OBP the Orioles score a ton of runs. In fact they were in the top 5 of runs scored and they hit more home runs than any other team. And that's what makes them dangerous and fascinating. 

They're dangerous obviously to opposing teams pitchers. They take advantage of the tiny AL East ballparks and destroy balls. This also makes them dangerous to themselves. 

The Orioles didn't rely on a high BABIP to score runs like the Cardinals last year but they do rely too much on the home run. Sometimes you need that leadoff walk plus a home run or double in an inning to win those 3-1 games. The Orioles lost quite a few of those close ballgame last season. 

Does this mean the Orioles will be bad this year? There's mass data on almost all of their players that suggest that their OBP's will be the same this year so will they end up in third place again with a winning record? Not necessarily. While the Orioles can score a ton of runs, their pitching last season gave up almost as many. Look at their results from last season. They played a lot of 8-9, 10-9 games last season. You're going to lose a few of those if your pitchers are giving up as many runs as you're scoring. 

And that's the main issue with the Orioles. Their pitching is much more a problem than their hitting. They're scoring runs despite low OBPs because they can hit home runs. That shouldn't change. What they need to worry about and change is their pitchers FIPs. The Orioles somewhat solved this problem by signing Ubaldo Jimenez but they still have four other projected starting pitchers who had FIPs over .380 last season. 

The Orioles will be fascinating this season because time will tell if they can still compete with low OBPs. And they still have time to make a run at another pitcher like Ervin Santana. But time will tell if their low OBP offense can keep up with their high FIP pitching staff. 

Buck Showalter's Grading Sheet

On Tuesday I brought you the story about Buck Showalter demanding that a Orioles prospect write a one page essay on Frank Robinson because the kid didn't know who the Hall of Fame player was. Well I can only image that Buck had the kid turn in the paper today and this is what his grading sheet looks like.

Format: A+, "You followed my instructions and kept the page single spaced on college ruled paper. You wrote from the first line to the second line as instructed. Well done young man."

Penmanship: B-, "While I did ask for cursive, you're penmanship needs work young man. Your 'L's" look like "I's" and the beginning of the paper was hard to read compared to the end of the page. You get a B- because your handwriting did improve as the page went along."

Grammar: A, "You must have been an excellent English student in high school because your grammar is great. You did mess up an your and you're but kids and adults on Twitter mess that up every single day tweeting about my lineups."

Knowledge of Subject: A, "You began with knowledge that Mr. Robinson grew up in Oakland with Bill Russell. Played for the Cincinnati Reds. Traded to the Baltimore Orioles in one of the worst trades ever. Won MVP's in two different leagues. Won 2 world championships. Became the first African-American manager in baseball. And fell asleep in the Expos dugout during a game."

Total Grade: A, "Well done young man, but next time know who Frank fucking Robinson is. I mean seriously. The man has worked as a manager and as an ambassador of the league. I know you kids today have your heads buried in your phones so next time do yourself a favor and use the Internet on that phone and look up the history of the Baltimore Orioles. Then you'll know who Brooks Robinson is when I ask. And if you don't know who Cal Ripken Jr is, the entire city of Baltimore might execute you. Save yourself the hassle."

Professor Showalter Demands That You Know Who Frank Robinson Is

You might not know who Josh Hart is. He's a 2nd round pick out of a Georgia high school by the Baltimore Orioles. He was born in 1994, the same year as my brother, meaning he's only 20 years old and by the time he grew up former Oriole Frank Robinson was no longer relevant in baseball. At least to him. So ole Buck Showalter is going to change that.

Buck asked O's farmhand Josh Hart if he knew who Frank was. He didnt, so Buck told him he wanted a one-page report on him by tmrw. #Orioles
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) February 24, 2014

Now does Buck make him write the report single spaced or double? And what kind of font? Not the big kind that all of us kids tried to get away with, right? Definitely with one inch margins, right? And how closely does Buck check the work for plagiarisms? We need more detail on this because I'm more curious about this right now than I am about the spring training games that are about to start this morning in Florida.

(Via Big League Stew)